Serbia
"Boze Pravde" (God of Justice)

Words by: Jorvan Djordjevic
Music by: Davorin Jenko
Adopted: 1904

The Serbian anthem was adopted in 1904, after Serbia became an independent nation in the 1880s. Upon forming the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later to be called Yugoslavia) in 1918, "Boze Pravde" was retained as the anthem of the Serbs within the federation. In fact, the first anthem of the federation, in use until 1943, uses part of "Boze Pravde" in the melody to represent the Serbs of the land. After World War II, "Boze Pravde" continued to be popular with Serbs, and identified as their anthem; the self-proclaimed Republic of Srpska, formed during Yugoslavia's disintegration in the 1990s from the Serbian areas of Bosnia-Hercegovina, used "Boze Pravde" for their anthem as well, although originally with the old lyrics in use during the time that Serbia was a monarchy. In August, 2004, 18 months after Yugoslavia became the new federation of Serbia and Montenegro, "Boze Pravde" was officially declared as Serbia's anthem by the Serb national assembly and was retained upon the dissolution of the union and Serbian independence in 2006.

The original lyrics, present in the former Yugoslav anthem, refer to the Serbian monarchy, which was replaced with a republican-style government in 1945. The current lyrics of the Serbian anthem replace the references to the king with references to the Serbian race. The music of the anthem is by a Slovene, Davorin Jenko.

Special thanks to: Aleksandar Rakovic for some of this information and to Pavel Zinovatny for the music file and sheet music

See also: Srpska, Kosovo.